Tegra 3

Nvidia claims the Tegra 3 processor provides up to three times the graphics performance of Tegra 2 and up to 61 percent lower power consumption, yielding 12 hours of battery life for HD video playback. The Tegra 3 processor shuts down its four performance-tuned cores and uses its "companion core" when users are listening to music, playing back video or updating background data. When Web browsing, multitasking and gaming, the Tegra 3 processor disables the companion core and kicks its performance cores into high gear.

Asustek Nov. 9 formally introduced the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime convertible tablet powered by Nvidia's Tegra 3 "Kal-El" processor. Tegra 3 is a quad-core chip geared to facilitate greater graphics for gaming and other multimedia applications on tablets without rapidly depleting battery power. The Transformer Prime is a 10.1-inch tablet that measures only 0.33 inches thick and weighs 1.29 pounds. The slate features a metallic swirl design and an HD 8 megapixel rear auto-focus camera with LED flash. The Transformer Prime runs Google's Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system and is slated to go on sale priced at $499 for a 32GB model and $599 for a 64GB version. Take eWEEK's quick tour of the Transformer Prime.